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It’s been a difficult week for NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde. His rapid ascent to leading the prestigious news brand after working at Telemundo and Univision has encountered a significant obstacle: the resistance from his on-air talent regarding the hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel.
The debacle, which involved public criticism from prominent anchor Rachel Maddow and veteran Chuck Todd followed by a reversal of the decision, represents a major mistake for Conde. He has only been in this role for four years and has been praised as the first Hispanic to lead a major English-language TV news organization.
A notable executive close to the network's news talent revealed, “Everyone is discussing what this means for Cesar and what will happen to him after this fiasco.
Conde found himself isolated as his team did not support him during three days of unprecedented criticism. In addition to the on-air talent, MSNBC president Rashida Jones, who reports to Conde, was quick to distance herself from the decision to hire McDaniel. The news staff, along with a group of media veterans not affiliated with the network, said McDaniel was unsuitable as a commentator not because she’s a pro-Trump conservative but due to her well-documented role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The trust between the news network's star talent and Conde, who is relatively new to the challenging world of the New York-Washington, D.C. media scene, appears to have been damaged by the debacle.
“While the staff feels some sense of accomplishment that the decision was reversed, there are many questions about how the decision was made in the first place and who was involved,” an insider at the network told TheWrap.
Conde joined NBCUniversal as EVP of NBCU International Group and Telemundo Enterprises in 2013. Before NBC, he worked as a White House Fellow for Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002 to 2003 and held positions as the chief strategy officer and president of Univision from 2003 to 2009.
In 2008, Conde contributed $5,000 to the Univision Communications PAC, which allocated $122,500 to Democrat candidates and $12,000 to Republicans during that election cycle, as per OpenSecrets.
In 2020, Conde was promoted to NBCUniversal News Group chairman — prevailing over heir apparent Noah Oppeinheim — and subsequently expanded his oversight to include NBCUniversal Local and NBCU Telemundo Enterprises Group following the removal of former NBCU CEO Jeff Shell and and the subsequent restructuring under Comcast president Mike Cavanagh.
Unlike Oppenheim, Conde was a newcomer to the exclusive world of New York-based media.
Under Conde’s leadership, the network has made substantial investments in NBC News' streaming service, which the network claims is the quickest-growing streaming news network in the nation.
NBC News NOW has experienced four consecutive years of record growth, with three of its best quarters ever in 2023. Every hour posted year-over-year growth in 2023, making it the most successful year on record for the platform. The 24/7 streaming service presently produces over 12 hours of live content each day. NBCNews.com also had a good year in 2023, ranking ahead of NYTimes.com in the latter half of the year.
While Fox News is still the most popular cable news channel, MSNBC experienced significant growth in February for both total day and primetime viewers. In primetime, the network had an average of 1.35 million viewers, which is a 15% increase compared to last year. In February, MSNBC also attracted 852,000 total day viewers, marking a 20% rise from the same period the previous year.
“People didn’t recognize Cesar. He joined during COVID and most staff couldn’t pick him out in a photo lineup,” the network insider mentioned. “That being said, you can’t be too upset about something you never thought made sense.”
Only last Friday, NBC announced that McDaniel had joined the network as an on-air contributor to provide an “insider’s perspective on national politics and on the future of the Republican Party.”
The negative response to the initial decision to hire McDaniel started after the RNC chair’s interview on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” although the majority of the backlash occurred on MSNBC. A record number of journalists dedicated segments to the controversial hiring, including Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell. Chuck Todd Jones reassured her audience that MSNBC would not have McDaniel on the cable network.
By Tuesday, Conde succumbed to the immense pressure and took responsibility for a decision that his talent believed damaged the network’s credibility.
“After hearing the valid concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor. No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the past few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal,” Conde wrote in a memo to staff. “I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down. While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”
He emphasized that the initial decision was made due to the network’s “deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times.”
“We continue to be committed to the principle that we must have diverse viewpoints on our programs, and to that end, we will redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum,” he added.
Conde received initial praise from anchors on MSNBC following the reversal.
“I am thankful to Cesar,” Joy Reid said during a segment with Rachel Maddow, who described the reversal as a “show of strength” from management for their willingness to take their staffers’ objections into account.
But it’s unclear whether there’s any additional fallout to come for Conde or if the situation will ultimately hinder NBC’s efforts to bring conservative viewpoints on the network.
“Cesar Conde probably did what he had to do in quickly firing Ronna McDaniel, given the open revolt of so many of the network’s top personalities,” PR expert Nick Kalm told TheWrap. “However, it’s also evident he should have more carefully considered the implications of hiring her in the first place. At the same time, the network is now going to have a challenge in getting Republicans to appear, participate in debates and more. And that will have the impact of painting the network with an intolerant, left-leaning bias that will be difficult to overcome.”
A spokesperson for Comcast refused to provide any comment for this story, and NBC News also declined to comment.
People with insider knowledge say that the trust between Conde, who is relatively new, and the NBC News staff has been harmed.
